Massive over-ear headphones are the best way to immerse yourself in a video game, whether you’re managing the minutiae of Civilization V, hiding from the xenomorph in Alien Isolation, or blasting your way across multiplayer maps in Call of Duty: Black Ops.
Huge sound is a big part of gaming on your Mac, PC or PS4, and these fantastic-sounding and incredibly comfortable Siberia 350 headphones from SteelSeries are the best way to get your game on without sacrificing on comfort.
Killer sound
I’ve been wearing the Siberia 350 headphones for hours at a time, gaming and listening to music on my Mac. The incredibly light headset, the unique suspension-style headband, and the big, comfy ear cup cushions all make it easy to keep them on my head long past the point where other headphones start to hurt. It’s easy to forget I’ve got these on my head, even with the thick cable sneaking down from the left earpiece. All-night gaming sessions are much better when your ears aren’t in pain from inferior headsets.
Photo: SteelSeries
There’s a retractable mic that easily lets you communicate with your multiplayer buddies; Left 4 Dead was a lot better when I could scream, “zombie behind you!” into my headset. It’s a crystal clear voice connection, too; the gamers I teamed up with said it sounded fantastic. Using it is super easy; I just pull it out, bend it around to just in front of my mouth to taunt my pals, then push it back in when I don’t need it.
Need a mute switch so you can complain loudly to your roommate without letting your teammates hear your foul mouth? There’s a mute switch on the left-ear cup; a simple flick of your thumb will mute your mic, making your complaints unheard by the people on the other end.
The large speaker drivers make everything sound amazing, as does the 7.1-channel surround sound. I could hear every footstep, bullet and incoming enemy when playing games on my Mac, as well as undiscovered nuances to all the music I played through this high-quality audio device. You’ll never want to go back to earbuds to game again.
App-powered customization
There’s a free app for your Mac (or PC) as well, called SteelSeries Engine 3, which lets you customize the LED lights on the sides of the ear cups. While I’m no eSport superstar with team colors that I’d want to recreate with the headphone lights, it is nice to change them to a favorite color when I’m wearing them.
Unfortunately, the Siberia 350 is USB-only, so you won’t be using them with your iPhone, iPad, or any other standard headphone jack-equipped device. If you need something as comfy that will work with your Mac or PC, a gaming console, or a mobile device, you’ll have to grab something a bit more expensive, like the Siberia 650, which has adapters for more device connections.
While you can use the Siberia 350s with your PS4, the cable will only work connected directly to the console itself, so you’ll need to get a really long USB extension cord if your PlayStation is across the room like mine.
Affordable quality
Ultimately, these are a fantastic choice for the Mac or PC gamer who wants amazing sound reproduction with 7.1 channel surround sound, comfy ear cups and suspension headband, and an integrated microphone with an inline volume control. They’re rugged, well-designed, and the Mac or PC app lets you customize your experience with little to no effort. The Siberia 350 comes with all of that for less than $120, and they’re worth every penny.
Price: $119
Buy from: Amazon
SteelSeries provided Cult of Mac with a review unit for this article. Read Cult of Mac’s reviews policy.
